Everybody! (Yeah!) File your trademarks! (Yeah!) Everybody! (Yeah!) Protect your body of vocal work\u2026 alright!\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>
No, it doesn\u2019t scan. But US man-band Backstreet Boys have become the latest artist to use a trademark filing as a defensive weapon in the battle against unauthorised voice clones.\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>
Lawyer Josh Gerben, who is very much on top of spotting and reporting on these filings ahead of industry media,\u00a0noted the filing for a \u2018sensory mark\u2019 of the band<\/a>\u00a0saying \u201cHi, we\u2019re the Backstreet Boys\u201d.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Backstreeet Boys\u2019 move follows similar filings from\u00a0Taylor Swift<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lionel Richie<\/a>\u00a0in recent months. Gerben also offered some analysis on whether this filing would be effective, if it is approved.\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p> \u201cIf someone uses AI to generate an entirely different phrase (or a song that was never performed by the group), but still uses a voices that sound like the group, is that still infringing on this particular trademark?\u201d he wrote.\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p> \u201cThe Backstreet Boys would likely argue that trademark infringement turns on whether consumers are likely to be confused, not whether the exact words are identical. If an AI-generated recording sounds confusingly similar to the protected sound, they could contend that it infringes their trademark rights.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p> However, he warned that the platforms to which the AI slop might be uploaded could take \u201ca much narrower view\u201d and see the protection as only applying to recordings \u201cconfusingly similar to the specific phrase that was registered\u201d.\n\n\n \nRelated Stories<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>